Thursday

May 7, 2020 at 1:02 PMMay 8, 2020 at 11:31 AM

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island will take its first cautious steps toward normalcy starting this weekend.

Gov. Gina Raimondo on Thursday became the first governor in the region to lift a statewide stay-at-home order, effective Saturday. She imposed the order March 28 to slow the advance of the coronavirus sweeping the country.

But as a signal that her approach to reopening a devastated economy will be a slow one, Raimondo also kept in place until May 22 at least a ban on social gatherings larger than five and continued only take-out restaurant service, curtailing for now even outdoor dining. (Restaurants now, however, will be able to sell mixed drinks in sealed containers, along with beer and wine.)

This is "not the time to expand social networks," Raimondo said during her daily news briefing. "If we try to push the limits, we’re all going to get in trouble," which could mean having to steps backward into more restrictions.

Noting that by now Rhode Islanders understand well the importance of social distancing and wearing masks in public -- a requirement starting Friday --- "I am trusting that people are going to do the right thing."

Raimondo said the state had met the criteria her team had established last month for the start of the first phase of a gradual reopening of businesses; a threshold that she said should give Rhode Islanders confidence. Toward that end, she announced that starting Monday:.

– Nonessential retail stores will be able to reopen under new occupancy limits and other restrictions.

– People who have deferred healthcare needs can contact their doctors and set up appointments if necessary.

– Hospitals, which lost millions in the last two months as they curtailed surgeries to reserve potentially needed beds, will be able to provide required but non-emergency medical procedures. (South County Hospital began those procedures this week, she said.)

– Workers will be allowed to return to offices in limited circumstances.

– Some state parks will reopen with limited parking.

– Places of worship will be allowed to reopen for services, but only with five or fewer people present. Drive-in services are allowed as long as people stay in their cars.

– Funerals will be allowed to have up to 10 people, as long as those people maintain social distance.

(Specifics concerning Phrase One are available online at www.reopeningri.com)

On Wednesday Raimondo said her reopening strategy went beyond seeing decreases in new cases and hospitalizations and included meeting other criteria, including having sufficient stockpiles of personal protection equipment like gloves and masks, expanding testing capabilities to track the virus, speedy contact tracing of people who might be infected and a data-driven ability to predict hotspots and quickly react.

She said that over a three-day average, the state had seen a 15% decrease in coronavirus hospitalizations, and a 25% drop in new cases.

The state’s contact tracing team of about 100 health department and National Guard members were contacting about 90% of associates of infected patients with a 24 hour period, and that the state had 35% available ICU beds in existing hospitals.

In a morning telephone conference call with members of the White House’s coronavirus task force, the governor said that Dr. Deborah L Birx was "frankly very complimentary" about the state’s plan to cautiously reopen and "pledged support to continue to help us" acquire testing supplies.

Raimondo noted that life for most people in phase one would not seem much different than it has under the stay-at-home order, with employees who can remain working from home, doing so. People coming into Rhode Island from other states will still have to self-quarantine for 14 days.

But as retailers open their doors beginning Saturday, with restrictions, she encouraged Rhode Islanders to "go ahead, get back out there. We need to stimulate this economy."

Raimondo said she had decided not to expand social gatherings beyond five after speaking with community leaders who voiced concerns that if people were allowed to gather in groups of 10, as Massachusetts now allows, they would see family and outdoor gatherings of twice that size.

Close-contact businesses like salons and barbershops will remain closed until Phase Two begins, which likely won’t start for at least two weeks and will require another 14-day period of downward trends in new cases and hospitalizations.

Also Thursday the state Department of Health reported 18 additional deaths and said 325 new cases of coronavirus had been identified the previous day.

That brings the total toll in the state to 388 deaths and 10,530 known cases since the virus arrived here.

Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott said the 18 most recent fatalities included 14 nursing-home residents, including two residents of the Rhode Island Veterans Home.

A staggering 70% of all fatalities of COVID-19 related deaths in Rhode Island have been associated with nursing homes.

There were 318 patients with coronavirus in Rhode Island hospitals on Monday, down from 324 the day before, and the lowest number since April 23. Eighty-two were intensive care, down from 86 the previous day. Fifty-six were on ventilators.

The Health Department said 2,620 tests came back negative on Wednesday, so 11% of the most recent test results were positive.

Rhode Island is one of about 30 states now testing the waters of reopening their economies, according to an analysis done by The New York Times, and Rhode Island appears in a better place to begin than most.

Many of those states, the newspaper reported Thursday, actually fail to meet the criteria recommended by the Trump administration that states should have a "downward trajectory" of either documented cases or of the percentage of positive tests before reopening.

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